Initial notes on some scenes from HPSS

On watching the first few scenes of the first movie of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (because the original title Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone reportedly would not sell in the USA where the editors thought no one would go see a movie with the word “Philosopher” in it): we note that the special effects are ancient already even though the movie was made in 2001, Richard Harris is dead, the snake is supposed to be Nagini, Christopher Columbus with John Williams makes a much less scary movie than the later films would be, Hagrid is obviously two different actors depending on the shot, and we have a metaphorical use of a device called a “putter outer” that puts out street lights (will later also turn them on) and as we shall see works on people’s “lights” as well as gas lamps and electric lights.

Harry is underfoot literally and figuratively. The Snake does not speak Parsel tongue (snake language) neither does Harry, as they will in the second movie. (Do they speak English in the book?)

Voldemort and Harry’s wands are twins, and Gandalf and the Balrog’s swords (in the Lord of the Rings) are twins. Matt wonders if when people see Harry some of them know that he is the last phylactery of Voldemort’s soul (Diary, ring, locket, cup, diadem, Harry, Nagini, Voldemort.

A Biblical interpretation of the creation of Adam and Eve is that they had no purpose initially. When Satan gives them the fruit they now have a curiosity to know things but continue to seek a sense of purpose but they still do not have one.